Image capturing system and image capturing method

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Applications Nos. 2004-374689 filed on Dec. 24, 2004 and JP2004-374690 filed on Dec. 24, 2004, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an image capturing system and an image capturing method.

2. Related Art

Generally, as a system for capturing images of users using the camera installed in such a theme park, a system in which images are captured by a camera according to an instruction from a shutter device held by the user is known as described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-78804, for example. In the system, an alarm tone is generated from the shutter device held by the user when the user arrived at around the snapping spot of the camera installed in such as a flower garden. After perceiving the alarm tone, the user pushes the shutter button of the shutter device to capture an image using the camera. Thereby the user can capture the image using the camera at the desired shutter timing.

However, in such system, a user can not easily recognize the snapping spot until the user arrives at around the snapping spot. Additionally, when a user wants to take a picture against a background of the whole notable building in a theme park, the user can not correctly know whether the user is on the position allowing the user to capture an image with the best composition in the snapping point, for example. Particularly, when it is intended to capture the image of a plurality of persons, each person can not easily know where they should stand to be photographed at the best position. Therefore, the notable building may be hidden by the user depending on the user's position. Then, the user cannot easily acquire the image with the desired composition.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Thus, the object of the present invention is to provide an image capturing system and an image capturing method which can solve the above-described problems. This object is achieved by combining the features recited in independent claims. Then, dependent claims define further effective specific example of the present invention.

The image capturing system according to a first aspect of the present invention includes an image capturing unit, a composition storage section for storing a plurality of compositions of images captured by the image capturing unit, a plurality of position indication sections for indicating the position at which a main subject should be located in order to capture the image having the composition stored in the composition storage section and a composition presentation section for presenting the composition of an image captured by the image capturing unit for each of the plurality of position indication sections when the main subject is located at the position indicated by the position indication section.

The image capturing unit is fixedly installed at a predetermined position. The plurality of position indication units may have a plurality of position indication mark units drawn on the positions at which the main subjects should be located in each of the plurality of compositions stored in the composition storage section. The composition storage section stores a plurality of compositions depending on the number of main subjects. The plurality of position indication mark units may be drawn on the positions depending on the number of main subjects, respectively. The position indication mark units may indicate the position at which the main subject should be located and the direction of the image capturing unit. The composition presentation section may be a plurality of composition images drawn on near the plurality of position indication mark units in association with each of the plurality of position indication mark units.

The image capturing system may further include a portable unit held by the main subject. The composition presentation section may transmit the composition of the captured image stored in the composition storage section to the portable unit and cause the portable unit to display the composition.

The image capturing system may further include a plurality of antenna units provided corresponding to each of the plurality of position indication mark units, for receiving a composition transmission request from the portable unit by radio signals and a composition selection section for selecting the composition of the image captured by the image capturing unit among the plurality of compositions stored in the composition storage section when the main subject is located at the position on which the position indication mark unit corresponding to the antenna unit is drawn. The composition presentation section may transmit the composition of the captured image selected by the composition selection section to the portable unit and cause the portable unit to display the same.

The image capturing system according to a second aspect of the present invention includes an image capturing unit, a composition determination section for determining the composition of an image to be captured by the image capturing unit, a position identification section for identify at least one of the position of the image capturing unit and the position of the main subject and a position presentation section for presenting at least one of the position of the image capturing unit and the position of the main subject identified by the position identification section.

The image capturing system according to the second aspect of the present invention may further includes a composition storage section for storing a plurality of compositions in which a background image and the position of the main subject in the background is identified. The composition determination section may select the composition selected by the user among the plurality of compositions stored in the composition storage section. Additionally, the image capturing system according the second aspect of the present invention may further include an image capturing unit information storage section for storing information indicative of the type of the image capturing unit, an image capturing condition determination section for determining the image capturing condition of the image capturing unit based on the composition determined by the composition determination section and the information indicative of the type of the image capturing unit stored in the image capturing unit information storage section and an image capturing condition presentation section for presenting the image capturing condition determined by the image capturing condition determination section.

The image capturing unit may be fixedly installed at a predetermine position. The composition storage section may store a plurality of compositions in the image captured by the image capturing system. In the plurality of compositions, the position or size of each main subject is different from each other. The position identification section may identify the position of the main subject based on the position or size of the main subject in the composition determined by the composition determination section. The position presentation section may present the position of the main subject identified by the position identification section.

The image capturing system according to the second aspect of the present invention may further include a position storage section for storing the position of the main subject in association with the plurality of composition stored in the composition storage section and a mark unit provided at the position of the main subject stored in the position storage section. The position identification section may select the position of the main subject stored in the position storage section in association with the composition determined by the composition determination section. The position presentation section may present the information which identifies the mark unit provided at the position of the main subject selected by the position identification section.

The image capturing system according to the second aspect of the present invention may further include a portable unit held by the main subject and a portable unit detection section being capable of receiving within a predetermine region including the mark unit, for receiving the radio signal outputted from the portable unit and detecting that the portable unit is located in a predetermined region. The position presentation section may present information which identifies the mark unit provided at the position of the main subject selected by the position identification section when the portable unit detection section detects that the portable unit is located in the predetermined region.

The mark unit is drawn on the position of the main subject selected by the position identification section along with the information which identifies the mark unit. The position presentation section may transmit the information which identifies the mark unit provided at the position of the main subject selected by the position identification section to the portable unit and cause the portable unit to display the same. The mark unit may have a light emitting section for emitting light. The position presentation section may illuminate with the light the mark provided at the position of the main subject selected by the position identification section.

The image capturing system according to the second aspect of the present invention may further include a map image storage section for storing a three-dimensional map image. The composition determination section may determine a composition including the background image of the main subject. The position identification section may compare the background image of the main subject included in the composition determined by the composition determination section with the three-dimensional map image stored in the map image storage section to identify the position of the image capturing unit.

The image capturing system according to the second aspect of the present invention may further include a position acquiring section for acquiring one of the position to which the image capturing unit is fixed and the position to which the main subject is fixed near the position presented by the position presentation section and a composition redetermination section for determining again the composition of an image to be captured by the image capturing unit based on the composition determined by the composition determination section, the three-dimensional map image stored in the map image storage section and the position acquired by the position acquiring section. The position identification section may identify the other one of the position of the image capturing unit and the position of the main subject based on the composition determined by the composition redetermination section.

The position acquiring section may acquire the position to which the image capturing section is fixed near the position presented by the position presentation section. The composition redetermination section may determine a composition which allow the image capturing unit to capture the main subject and the other subjects in the positional relationship approximately same as the positional relationship between the main subject and the other subjects in the composition determined by the composition determination section based on the composition determined by the composition determination section, the three-dimensional map image stored in the map image storage section and the position of the image capturing unit acquired by the position acquiring section. The position identification section may identify the position of the main subject based on the composition determined by the composition redetermination section.

The position acquiring section may acquire the position to which the main subject is fixed near the position presented by the position presentation section. The composition redetermination section may determine a composition which allow the image capturing unit to capture the main subject and the other subject in the positional relationship approximately same as the positional relationship between the subject and the other subjects in the composition determined by the composition determination section based on the composition determined by the composition determination section, the three-dimensional map image stored in the map image storage section and the position of the main subject acquired by the position acquired section. The position identification section may identify the position of the image capturing unit based on the composition determined by the composition redetermination section.

The image capturing system according to a third aspect of the present invention includes an image capturing unit fixedly installed in a predetermined position, and position indication mark units for indicating the position at which the main subject should be located in order to acquire the captured image having the predetermined composition captured by the capturing section, respectively. Each of the position indication mark unit is provided in the region within which the position indication mark unit is set in the frame of the image captured by the image capturing unit and not shown on the image captured by the image capturing unit when the main subject is located thereon.

The image capturing system according to the third aspect of the present invention may further include a facial image storage section for storing the facial image of the main subject, a facial position storage section for storing the position at which the face of the main subject should be shown on the captured image, an image comparison section for comparing the captured image with the facial image and a captured image acquiring section for acquiring the image captured by the image capturing unit when it is determined that the facial image is shown on the captured image based on the comparison result by the image comparison section.

The image capturing system according to the third aspect of the present invention may further include a image capturing control mark unit provided between the image capturing unit and the position indication mark units, a mark shown on determination section for determining whether the image capturing control mark unit is shown on the captured image and a captured image acquiring section for acquiring the image captured by the image capturing unit when the mark shown on determination section determines that the image capturing control mark unit is shown on the captured image and vice versa.

An image capturing method according to a fourth aspect of the present invention includes the steps of: capturing an image by an image capturing unit; storing a plurality of compositions of the image captured by the image capturing unit; indicating the position at which a main subject should position in order to capture the image having the composition stored in the storing step by a plurality of position indication sections; and presenting the composition of the image captured by the image capturing unit for each of the plurality of position indication units when the main subject is located at the position indicated by the position indication section.

An image capturing method according to a fifth aspect of the present invention includes the steps of: capturing an image by an image capturing unit; determining the composition of an image to be captured by the image capturing unit; identifying at least one of the position of the image capturing unit and that of a main subject based on the composition determined in the composition determining step; and presenting at least one of the position of the image capturing unit and that of the main subject based on the composition determined in the composition identifying step.

An image capturing method according to a sixth aspect of the present invention includes the steps of: capturing an image by an image capturing unit fixedly installed at a predetermined position; and indicating a position at which a main subject should be located in order to capture an image having a predetermined composition captured by the image capturing unit using a position indication mark unit provided within an image capturing region by the image capturing unit, where, the position indication mark unit is not shown on the image captured by the image capturing unit when the main subject is located thereon.

Here, all necessary features of the present invention are not listed in the summary of the invention. The sub-combinations of the features may become the invention.

According to the present invention, an image having the desirable composition, which is captured by an image capturing apparatus can be provided to the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref> shows an example of the environment for the usage of an image capturing system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> shows an example of a block configuration of the image capturing system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> shows an example of an image capturing position at which a user is located according to an embodiment of the present invention;

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> shows an example of the image captured by an image capturing unit <b>110</b> according to an embodiment of the present invention;

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref> shows an example of the facial position stored in a facial position storage section <b>232</b> according to an embodiment of the present invention;

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref> shows an example of the procedure of the image-capturing using the image capturing unit <b>110</b> according to an embodiment of the present invention;

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref> shows an example of the environment for the usage of an image capturing system according to another embodiment of the present invention;

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 8</figref> shows an example of a block configuration of the image capturing system according to another embodiment of the present invention;

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9</figref> shows an example of the composition stored in a composition storage section <b>224</b> according to another embodiment of the present invention;

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref> shows an example of the position at which a main subject should be located according to another embodiment of the present invention;

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 11</figref> shows an example of information indicative of the positions of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> and the main subject presented by a position presentation section <b>234</b> according to another embodiment of the present invention;

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 12</figref> shows an example of the procedure of the image-capturing using the image capturing unit <b>110</b> according to another embodiment of the present invention;

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 13</figref> shows an example of the operation flow of a sever <b>120</b> according to another embodiment of the present invention;

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 14</figref> shows an example of the presentation of the position of a photographer according to another embodiment of the present invention;

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 15</figref> shows an example of the presentation of the position of a subject person according to another embodiment of the present invention;

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 16</figref> shows an example of the operation of a portable unit <b>140</b> when a position acquiring section <b>242</b> acquires the position of the subject person or the photographer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, the present invention will now be described through preferred embodiments. The embodiments do not limit the invention according to claims and all combinations of the features described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to means for solving the problems of the invention.

For the sake of clarity and understanding, identical components having identical functions in each of the accompanying drawings have been marked with the same reference numerals throughout each of the several Figures illustrated herein.

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref> shows an example of an environment for the usage of the image capturing system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The image capturing system captures pictures of users who play in an amusement park and provides the pictures to the users. An image capturing unit <b>110</b> is installed at the position at which the user image can be captured against a background of a notable statue of the amusement park. A plurality position indication mark units (<b>162</b><i>a</i>-<i>c</i>, hereinafter generally referred to as <b>162</b>) are drawn on the ground at which the user should be located in order to capture the image of an user against a background of the notable statue in the appropriate composition. The position indication mark units <b>162</b><i>a</i>, <b>162</b><i>b </i>and <b>162</b><i>c </i>indicate the positions at which the subject person should be located in order to obtain the image having the best composition, where, the position indication mark units <b>162</b><i>a</i>, <b>162</b><i>b </i>and <b>162</b><i>c </i>are set for one subject person, two subject persons and three subject persons, respectively.

A portable unit <b>140</b> held by the user transmits signals for capturing images using the image capturing unit <b>110</b> based on a user operation. A plurality of antenna units (<b>130</b><i>a</i>-<i>c</i>, hereinafter generally referred to as <b>130</b>) are provided near the position indication mark units <b>162</b>, respectively. The antenna unit <b>130</b><i>a</i>, <b>130</b><i>b </i>and <b>130</b><i>c </i>are provided to receive the signal transmitted from the portable unit <b>140</b> when the user stands on the position indication mark unit <b>162</b><i>a</i>, <b>162</b><i>b </i>and <b>162</b><i>c</i>, respectively. A server <b>120</b> receives the signal generated by the portable unit <b>140</b> from the antenna units <b>130</b> by radio communication. The server <b>120</b> causes the image capturing unit <b>110</b> to capture the image of the user based on the signal received by the antenna units <b>130</b>.

The server <b>120</b> acquires the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> and stores the same in directories provided for each user, such as directories associated with each portable unit <b>140</b>. Then, the user receives the image stored in the saver <b>120</b> for each user when the user leaves the amusement park. The server <b>120</b> may transmit the images stored in the server <b>120</b> to the portable unit <b>140</b> to provide the same to the users. Here, the portable unit <b>140</b> may be an PDA (personal digital assistant) such as a cellular phone held by the user and may be a rental PDA provided by the amusement park.

The image capturing system according to the present embodiment can notify the user of the position at which the user should be located in order to capture the image in the best composition by the position indication mark units <b>162</b>.

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> shows an example of a block configuration of the image capturing system according to the present embodiment. The image capturing system includes the image capturing unit <b>110</b>, the server <b>120</b>, the antenna units <b>130</b>, an image capturing control mark unit <b>180</b>, composition images (<b>170</b><i>a</i>-<i>c</i>, hereinafter generally referred to as <b>170</b>), the position indication units (<b>160</b><i>a</i>-<i>c</i>, hereinafter generally referred to as <b>160</b>) and the portable unit <b>140</b>. The server <b>120</b> has a composition storage section <b>234</b>, a composition selection section <b>236</b>, a composition presentation section <b>238</b>, a facial image storage section <b>230</b>, a facial position storage section <b>232</b>, an image comparison section <b>228</b>, a mark shown on determination section <b>226</b>, a captured image acquiring section <b>222</b>, a captured image storage section <b>224</b> and an image capturing control section <b>220</b>. The portable unit <b>140</b> has an image capturing information display section <b>242</b>. Each of the position indication units have position indication mark units <b>162</b>.

Here, only the image capturing unit <b>110</b> may installed at the position at which the subject can be captured among the components of the image capturing system and then, the server <b>120</b> may be embodied in a computer provided at the position different from the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b>, for example.

The portable unit <b>140</b> is held by a main subject captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. Then, the portable unit <b>140</b> transmits the signal to remotely control the image capturing unit <b>100</b> by radio communication. For example, the portable unit <b>140</b> transmits to the image capturing unit <b>110</b> the signal to instruct on image-capturing and transmits to the server <b>120</b> the signal to request the composition of the subject.

The antenna units <b>130</b> receives the signal from the portable unit <b>140</b> by a radio signal. The image capturing control section <b>220</b> controls the image capturing unit <b>110</b> based on the signal received by the antenna units <b>130</b>. For example, the image capturing control section <b>220</b> instructs the image capturing unit <b>110</b> on image-capturing when the image capturing control section <b>220</b> is instructed by the portable unit <b>140</b> on the mage-capturing.

The image capturing unit <b>110</b> receives light from the subject by an image capturing device such as a CCD to capture the image of the subject. Then, the captured image acquiring section <b>222</b> acquires the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> and stores the same in the captured image storage section <b>224</b>. Here, the image capturing unit <b>110</b> may fixedly installed at a predetermined position. Additionally, the image capturing unit <b>110</b> may continuously capture the subject at a predetermined time interval. The image capturing unit <b>110</b> may store the predetermined number of images obtained by continuously capturing. Then the captured image acquiring section <b>222</b> may acquire the image captured at the timing proximate to the instructed time for capturing by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> among the captured images stored in the image capturing unit <b>110</b>.

The server <b>120</b> may transmit the captured image stored in the captured image storage section <b>224</b> to the portable unit <b>140</b>. Then, the portable unit <b>140</b> may display the captured image received from the server <b>120</b> on the image capturing information display section <b>242</b> to present to the user.

The composition storage section <b>234</b> stores a plurality of compositions of the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. Then, each of the position indication units <b>160</b> indicate the position at which the main subject is should be located in order to capture the image having the plurality of compositions stored in the composition storage section <b>234</b>, respectively.

Each of the position indication mark units <b>162</b> indicates the position at which the main subject should be located in order to acquire the image having a predetermined composition captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. Specifically, the position indication mark units <b>162</b> are drawn on the position at which the main subject should be located in each of the plurality of compositions stored in the composition storage section <b>234</b>. The user can obtain the captured image having the composition stored in the composition storage section <b>234</b> by capturing the image at the positions on which the position indication mark units <b>162</b> are drawn.

The composition presentation section <b>238</b> presents the composition of the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> for each of the plurality of position indication units <b>160</b> when the main subject is located at the position indicated by the position indication units <b>160</b>. Specifically, the composition presentation section <b>238</b> presents for each of the position indication sections <b>160</b> the composition selected by the composition selection section <b>236</b> among the compositions stored in the composition storage section <b>234</b>.

For example, when the composition selection section <b>236</b> receives a composition transmission request for transmitting the composition from the portable unit <b>140</b>, the composition selection section <b>236</b> selects the composition of the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> among the plurality of compositions stored in the composition storage section <b>234</b> provided that the main subject is located at the position on which the position indication mark unit <b>162</b> corresponding to the antenna unit <b>130</b> is drawn. Then, the composition presentation section <b>238</b> transmits the composition of the captured image selected by the composition selection section <b>236</b> to the portable unit <b>140</b> and causes the image capturing information display section to display the same.

The plurality of composition images <b>170</b> are drawn near the plurality of position indication mark units <b>162</b> in association with each of the plurality of position indication mark units <b>162</b>, respectively. Here, the composition images <b>170</b> may be an example of the composition presentation section <b>238</b>.

The facial image storage section <b>230</b> stores the facial image of the main subject. For example, the facial image storage section <b>230</b> previously stores the facial image of the user captured at entering the amusement park. The facial position storage section <b>232</b> stores the position at which the user's face should be shown on the captured image. Then, the image comparison section <b>228</b> compares the image including the position at which the face of the main subject should be shown on the captured image with the facial image stored in the facial image storage section <b>230</b>. Then, the captured image acquiring section <b>222</b> acquires the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> when it is determined that the facial image stored in the facial position storage section <b>232</b> is included in the captured image based on the comparison result by the image comparison section <b>228</b>.

The image capturing control mark unit <b>180</b> is provided between the image capturing unit <b>110</b> and the position indication mark units <b>162</b>. The mark shown on determination section <b>226</b> determines whether the image capturing control mark unit <b>180</b> is shown on the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. Then, when the mark shown on determination section <b>226</b> determines that the image capturing control mark unit <b>180</b> is shown on the captured image, the captured image acquiring section <b>222</b> acquires the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. Alternatively, when the mark shown on determination section <b>226</b> determines that the image capturing control mark unit <b>180</b> is not shown on the captured image, the captured image acquiring section <b>222</b> does not acquire the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>.

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> shows an example of an image capturing position at which a user is positioned according to the present embodiment. The position indication mark units <b>162</b> are drawn on the positions depending on the number of main subjects, respectively. Specifically, the position indication mark unit <b>162</b><i>a</i>, <b>162</b><i>b </i>and <b>162</b><i>c </i>are drawn on the position at which the main subject should be located in order to obtain the image having the best composition captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>, where, the position indication mark units <b>162</b><i>a</i>, <b>162</b><i>b </i>and <b>162</b><i>c </i>are set for one subject person, two subject persons and three subject persons, respectively.

Additionally, the position indication mark units <b>162</b> may indicate the position at which the main subject should be located and the direction of the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. For example, the position indication mark units <b>162</b> may some marks in the shape of a foot of humans which are drawn on the ground at the position at which the user should be located. In this case, the face of the person who stands on the mark would face toward the direction of the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. Additionally, the position indication mark units <b>162</b> may include directional arrows indicative of the direction of the image capturing unit <b>110</b>.

Here, the position indication mark units <b>162</b> may be drawn within the image capturing region captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. Additionally, the position indication mark units <b>162</b> may be provided on the position at which the position indication mark units <b>162</b> are not shown on the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> when the main subject is located thereon. For example, the main subject exists on the position at which the position indication mark units <b>162</b> are provided, so that the position indication mark units <b>162</b> are hidden by the main subject, thereby the position indication mark units <b>162</b> are not shown on the captured image. Specifically, any user stands on the position at which the position indication mark units <b>162</b> are provided, so that the position indication mark units <b>162</b> are hidden by the feet of the user, thereby the position indication mark units <b>162</b> are not shown on the captured image. For example, the position indication mark units <b>162</b> may be marks having the size smaller than that of a foot of humans.

The position indication units <b>160</b> may be a component indicated on the ground by lighting by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. For example, the position indication units <b>160</b> may indicate the position at which the main subject is located by emitting light by a light emitting device fixed on the position at which the main subject should be located. Additionally, the position indication units <b>160</b> may be luminescence material applied on the position at which the main subject should be located. Then, the position indication units <b>160</b> may indicate the position at which the main subject is located by lighting the luminescence material with an ultraviolet flash.

The composition images <b>170</b><i>a</i>, <b>170</b><i>b </i>and <b>170</b><i>c </i>are drawn for each of the position indication mark units <b>162</b><i>a</i>, <b>162</b><i>b </i>and <b>162</b><i>c</i>, respectively. The composition images <b>170</b> may be drawn near the position indication mark unit <b>162</b> corresponding to each of the composition images <b>170</b>. The user can recognize the composition of the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> before capturing the image when the image is captured at the position of the position indication mark units <b>162</b> by the composition image <b>170</b> drawn near the position indication mark unit <b>162</b>.

The antenna units <b>130</b> are provided corresponding to each of the plurality of position indication mark units <b>162</b>, respectively. Then, the antenna units <b>130</b> receive the composition transmission request from the portable unit <b>140</b> by a radio signal.

Here, the region within which the antenna units <b>130</b> can receive the composition transmission request may be a region within which the user located on the corresponding position indication mark unit <b>162</b> can receive the composition transmission request from the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the user. Further, the region within which the antenna units <b>130</b> can receive the composition transmission request may be a region within which the composition transmission request transmitted from only the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the user located on the corresponding position indication mark unit <b>162</b> can be received.

Additionally, the antenna units <b>130</b> may receive the composition transmission request when the user is located on the corresponding position indication units <b>160</b> and may not receive the composition transmission request when the user is not located on the corresponding position indication unit <b>160</b>. For example, any switch for controlling the operation of receiving the composition transmission request by the antenna units <b>130</b> may be provided near the position indication units <b>160</b>. Then, the operation of receiving the composition transmission request by the antenna units <b>130</b> may be executed provided that the switch is turned on by an operation by the user located on the position indication unit <b>160</b> and a pressure by the weight of the user.

Additionally, the antenna units <b>130</b> may be provided near the positions on which the position indication units <b>162</b> are drawn. The antenna units <b>130</b> may be embedded in the ground so as not to be shown on the image captured in the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. Further, the antenna units <b>130</b> are provided outside of the image capturing region captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. Furthermore, the antenna units <b>130</b> may be provided on the position higher than the ground, such as the wall of a building.

Here, the composition storage section <b>234</b> may store a plurality of compositions depending on the number of main subjects. For example, the composition storage section <b>234</b> stores the images similar to the composition images <b>170</b> in association with the position indication mark units <b>162</b>. Then, the composition selection section <b>236</b> selects the composition of the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> among the plurality of compositions stored in the composition storage section <b>234</b> provided that the main subject is located at the position on which the position indication mark unit <b>162</b> corresponding to the antenna unit <b>130</b> is located when the antenna units <b>130</b> receives the composition transmission request.

For example, when the user located at the position on which the position indication mark unit <b>162</b><i>c </i>transmits the composition transmission request using the portable unit <b>140</b>, the antenna unit <b>130</b><i>c </i>corresponding to the position indication mark unit <b>162</b><i>c </i>receives the composition transmission request by the signal. The composition selection section <b>236</b> selects the composition of the captured image stored in association with the position indication mark unit <b>162</b><i>c </i>corresponding to the antenna unit <b>130</b><i>c </i>which received the signal. Here, the composition selection section <b>236</b> may select the composition of the composition image stored in association with the position indication mark unit <b>162</b><i>c </i>corresponding to the antenna unit <b>130</b><i>c </i>which received the composition transmission request at the maximum intensity when the plurality of antenna units <b>130</b> receive the composition transmission request transmitted from the portable unit <b>140</b>.

The image capturing control mark unit <b>180</b> is drawn on the ground between the image indication mark units <b>162</b> and the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. The captured image acquiring section <b>222</b> acquires the captured image when the image capturing control mark unit <b>180</b> is shown on the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>.

Additionally, image capturing buttons for instructing the image capturing unit <b>110</b> on image-capturing may be provided near for each of the position indication marks <b>162</b>, respectively. For example, the image capturing buttons may be provided under user's feet positioned on each of the position indication mark units <b>162</b>. Then, the image capturing unit <b>110</b> may identify the position indication mark unit <b>162</b> corresponding to the image capturing button operated by the user's foot to capture the image in the composition according to the number of main subjects indicated by the position indication mark unit <b>162</b>. Additionally, the image capturing unit <b>110</b> may capture an image provided that the number of users corresponding to the number of main subjects indicated by the position indication mark units <b>162</b> are at located on the position indication mark units <b>162</b>. For example, the image capturing buttons may be provided at each of the positions on which the main subjects indicated by the position indication mark units should be located, respectively. Then, the image capturing unit <b>110</b> may capture an image provided that all of the image capturing buttons provided at the positions at which the main subjects indicated by the position indication mark units <b>162</b> should be located are operated by the number of users corresponding to the number of the main subjects indicated by the position indication mark units <b>162</b>.

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> shows an example of the image captured by an image capturing unit according to the present embodiment. The image <b>502</b> represents an example of the image captured by the captured image acquiring section <b>222</b>. The image <b>504</b> represents an example of the image being not captured by the captured image acquiring section <b>222</b>. The mark shown on determination section <b>226</b> determines whether the image capturing control mark unit <b>180</b> is shown on the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. Here, the mark shown on determination section <b>226</b> may previously stores the position in the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>, on which the image capturing control mark unit <b>180</b> is shown in association with each of the compositions of the images captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. Then the mark shown on determination section <b>226</b> determines whether the image capturing control mark unit <b>180</b> is shown on the position of the captured image on which the image capturing control mark unit <b>180</b> should be shown. The captured image acquiring section <b>222</b> acquires the image captured by the image capturing section <b>110</b> when the mark shown on determination section <b>226</b> determines that the image capturing control mark unit <b>180</b> is shown on the image.

Meanwhile with reference to the image <b>504</b> in <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref>, the image capturing control mark unit <b>180</b> is not shown on the image <b>504</b> because the image capturing control mark unit <b>180</b> is hidden by a person <b>514</b>. In this case, the mark shown on determination section <b>226</b> determines that the image capturing mark unit <b>180</b> is not shown on the position in the image on which the image capturing control mark unit <b>180</b> should be shown. Then, the captured image acquiring section <b>222</b> does not acquire the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. Therefore, the user can obtain the captured image in which any undesirable subject is not shown in front of the user.

Additionally, the mark shown on determination section <b>226</b> may determine whether any undesirable subject is shown on the captured image using the captured image obtained by reducing the depth of field of the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. For example, the image capturing control section <b>220</b> causes the image capturing unit <b>110</b> to capture the image with less depth of the field centered on the position indication mark unit <b>612</b> corresponding to the antenna unit <b>130</b> which received the signal for instructing on image-capturing when the image capturing control section <b>220</b> is instructed on image-capturing by the portable unit <b>140</b>. Then, the captured image acquiring section <b>222</b> calculates the special frequency component of the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. Additionally, the captured image acquiring section <b>222</b> does not acquire the captured image when the captured image has the intensity more than a predetermined value in the low frequency component less than a predetermined frequency among the calculated special frequency component. Thereby it can be prevented that person different from the user, such as a tourist is shown on the captured image. Therefore, a desirable image can be provided to the user.

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref> shows an example of the facial position stored in a facial position storage section <b>232</b> according to the present embodiment. A captured image <b>402</b>, <b>404</b> and <b>406</b> are examples of the images obtained when persons stand on each of the position indication mark unit <b>162</b><i>a</i>, <b>162</b><i>b </i>and <b>162</b><i>c </i>and the images are captured using the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. The facial position storage section <b>232</b> stores the region within which the face of the person is positioned in the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> when the main subject is located at the position on which the position indication mark units <b>162</b> are drawn.

For example, the facial position storage section <b>232</b> stores a range <b>442</b> within which the user's face who stands on the position indication mark unit <b>162</b><i>a </i>is located. The facial position storage section <b>232</b> stores ranges (<b>444</b> and <b>446</b>) and ranges (<b>448</b>, <b>450</b> and <b>452</b>) within which each of the user's faces who stand on the position indication mark unit <b>162</b><i>b </i>and <b>162</b><i>c </i>is positioned. Then, the image comparison section <b>228</b> determines whether the facial image stored in the facial image storage section <b>230</b> is included within the range stored in the facial position storage section <b>222</b> in the captured image.

Specifically, the image comparison section <b>228</b> compares the outline of the subject extracted from the image within the range <b>442</b> in which the facial image is located by an edge extraction with the outline of the facial image stored in the facial image storage section <b>230</b> through a pattern matching. The image comparison section <b>228</b> compares the facial image within the region including the facial position stored in the facial position storage section <b>232</b>. Therefore, the image comparison section <b>228</b> can more speedily determine whether the person registered in the facial image storage section <b>230</b> is located at the position indication units <b>160</b> in comparison with when the person's face is extracted from all images captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>.

Additionally, the facial position storage section <b>232</b> may store the central coordinate at which the face of the user standing on the position indication mark units <b>162</b> is located in the captured image <b>402</b>. The image comparison section <b>228</b> may determine whether any subject matching with the facial image stored in the facial image storage section <b>230</b> is located within a predetermined range including the position stored in the facial position storage section <b>232</b> in the captured image.

The facial position storage section <b>232</b> may calculate the facial position of the user in the captured image for each composition stored in the composition storage section <b>234</b> based on a pre-registered user's height information. Additionally, the facial position storage section <b>232</b> may store the calculated facial position in association with the facial image stored in the facial image storage section <b>230</b>. Here, the facial position storage section <b>232</b> may determine the range of the user's height based on a pre-registered user's age information and store the facial position calculated based on the determined range of the user's height in association with the facial image stored in the facial image storage section <b>230</b>. Since the image comparison section <b>228</b> may compare the facial image with the captured image within the range determined for each facial image, it can be more speedily determine whether the person of which facial image is registered in the facial image storage section <b>230</b> is located on the position indication units <b>160</b>.

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref> shows an example of the procedure of the image-capturing using the image capturing unit <b>110</b> according to the present embodiment. Instructed on image-capturing by the portable unit <b>140</b>, the image comparison section <b>228</b> acquires the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> and determines whether the facial image stored in the composition storage section <b>234</b> is included in the captured image (S<b>612</b>). When the image comparison section <b>228</b> determines that the facial image stored in the composition storage section <b>234</b> is included in the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> (S<b>612</b>:YES), the mark shown on determination section <b>226</b> determines whether the image capturing control mark unit <b>180</b> is shown on the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> (S<b>622</b>). When the mark shown on determination section <b>226</b> determines that the image capturing control mark unit <b>180</b> is shown on the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> (S<b>622</b>:YES), the image capturing unit <b>110</b> captures the subject (S<b>624</b>).

Next, the server <b>120</b> notifies the user that the image is captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> (S<b>626</b>). For example, the image capturing unit <b>110</b> emits light on capturing the image, so that the user recognizes that the image is captured. Additionally, the server <b>120</b> may transmit to the portable unit <b>140</b> a signal indicating that the image is captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. On receiving the signal from the server <b>120</b>, the portable unit <b>140</b> may generate a sound indicating that the image is captured. Additionally, the portable unit <b>140</b> may display that the image is captured on the image capturing information display section <b>242</b>.

Next, the captured image acquiring section <b>222</b> acquires the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> (S<b>628</b>), and stores the captured image in the captured image storage section <b>224</b>. The server <b>120</b> may transmit the image stored in the captured image storage section <b>224</b> to the portable unit <b>140</b>. Then, the portable unit <b>140</b> may display the captured image received from the server <b>120</b> on the image capturing information display section <b>242</b>.

When the image comparison section <b>228</b> determines that the facial image stored in the composition storage section <b>234</b> is not included in the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> in S<b>612</b> (S<b>612</b>:NO), it is notified the user that any image is not captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> (S<b>630</b>) and the process is terminated. Additionally, when the mark shown on determination section <b>226</b> determines that the image capturing control mark unit <b>180</b> is not shown on the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> (S<b>622</b>:NO), the process is terminated after S<b>630</b>.

In the S<b>630</b>, the image capturing unit <b>110</b> emits light of which color is different from that of the light emitted for notifying that the image is captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>, so that it may be notified the user that any image is not captured. Additionally, the server <b>120</b> may transmit to the portable unit <b>140</b> a signal indicating that any image is not captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. Then, on receiving the signal from the server <b>120</b>, the portable unit <b>140</b> may generate a sound indicating to the user that any image is not captured. Further, the portable unit <b>140</b> may display that any image is not captured on the image capturing information display section <b>242</b>.

An example of the process based on the instruction from the portable unit <b>140</b> has been described with reference to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref>. Additionally, when the image capturing unit <b>110</b> continuously captures the images of the subject, the image captured around the timing instructed by the portable unit <b>140</b> may be processed as well as described above. That is to say, the image comparison section <b>228</b> may determine whether the facial image stored in the composition storage section <b>234</b> is shown on the image captured around the timing instructed by the portable unit <b>140</b> among the images continuously captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. The mark shown on determination section <b>226</b> may determine whether the image capturing control mark unit <b>180</b> is shown on the image captured around the timing instructed by the portable unit <b>140</b> among the images continuously captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> in S<b>622</b>. Thereby the user can capture images using the image capturing unit <b>110</b> by standing on the position indication mark units <b>162</b> without operating the portable unit <b>140</b>.

Here, when the image capturing unit <b>110</b> continuously capture the images of the subject, the subject may be captured with the resolution lower than that of the captured image provided to the user. Then, the image comparison section <b>228</b> and the mark shown on determination section <b>226</b> may make a determination of S<b>612</b> and S<b>622</b> to the captured image with the resolution lower than that of the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. Then, in S<b>624</b>, the image capturing unit <b>110</b> may capture an image provided to the user with the resolution higher than that of the captured image used for the determination of S<b>612</b> and S<b>622</b>. In S<b>628</b>, the captured image acquiring section <b>222</b> may acquire the captured image with the high resolution captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> in S<b>624</b>.

The image capturing system according to the present embodiment can notify the user of the position on which the user should be located in order to capture an image having the appropriate composition. Therefore, an image having the desirable composition can be provided to the user.

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref> shows an example of the environment for the usage of an image capturing system according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The image capturing system captures the picture of the user who plays in the amusement park and provides the picture to the user, for example. The image capturing unit <b>110</b> is installed at the position at which the photograph of the user can be captured against a background of Ferris wheel which is one attraction of the amusement park. The portable unit <b>140</b> held by the user receives a composition which can be captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> from the server <b>120</b> through the antenna unit <b>130</b> and presents the same to the user. Then, the portable unit <b>140</b> transmits the composition selected by the user to the server <b>120</b> through the antenna unit <b>130</b>. Then the server <b>120</b> transmits a user position at which an image having the composition received from the portable terminal <b>140</b> can be captured to the portable unit <b>140</b>. The user captures the image having the composition selected by the user using the image capturing unit <b>110</b> after moving to the position indicated by the portable unit <b>140</b>.

The server <b>120</b> may transmit the position at which the image capturing unit <b>110</b> can capture an image having the composition received from the portable unit <b>140</b> to the portable unit <b>140</b> and present the same to the user. Then the user captures the image having the composition selected of the user's own choice using the image capturing unit <b>110</b> located at the position indicated by the portable unit <b>140</b>. Here, the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the user may have an image capturing function as well as the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. Then user may move to the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> indicated by the portable unit <b>140</b> and capture an image having the composition selected by the user using the portable unit <b>140</b>.

The server <b>120</b> acquires the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> and stores directories provided for each user, such as directories associated with the portable unit <b>140</b>. Then, the user receives the image stored in the saver <b>120</b> for each user when the user leaves the amusement park. The server <b>120</b> may transmit the images stored in the server <b>120</b> to the portable unit <b>140</b> to provide the same to the users. Here, the portable unit <b>140</b> may be a PDA, such as a cellular phone held by the user and may be a rental PDA provided by the amusement park.

Additionally, the server <b>120</b> may be connected to the communication network <b>150</b> such as Internet. The server <b>120</b> may cause the user to select a composition through the computer <b>155</b> connected to the communication network <b>150</b>. The server <b>120</b> may store the composition selected by the user using the computer <b>155</b> in association with identification information for identifying the user, such as an e-mail address and a cellular phone number. Then the server <b>120</b> may present the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> or the position of the user to the portable unit <b>140</b> when the server <b>120</b> detects that the portable terminal <b>140</b> identified by the identification information arrives near the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> or the position of the user at which the image having the composition associated with the identification information can be captured. Further, the server <b>120</b> may present the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> or the position of the user to the user using the computer <b>155</b>. Here, the user may receive the image stored for each user in the server <b>120</b> using the computer outside of the amusement park.

The image capturing system according to the present embodiment can notify a user of the position at which the user should be located in order to capture an image having the appropriate composition. Additionally, the image capturing system according to the present embodiment can notify the user of the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> to capture an image having the appropriate composition. Additionally, the use can easily know the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> or the position at which the user should be located even if the user is positioned far from the position at which the image capturing unit <b>110</b> is installed, and is positioned far from the image capturing region by the image capturing unit. Therefore, the user can easily capture an image having the desirable composition.

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 8</figref> shows an example of a block configuration of the image capturing system according to the present embodiment. The image capturing system includes an image capturing unit <b>110</b>, a server <b>120</b>, an antenna unit <b>130</b>, a portable unit <b>140</b> and a plurality of mark units (<b>160</b><i>a</i>-<i>c</i>, hereinafter generally referred to as <b>160</b>). The server <b>120</b> includes an image capturing control section <b>212</b>, an image capturing section <b>214</b>, an image capturing unit information storage section <b>216</b>, an image capturing condition determination section <b>218</b>, an image capturing condition presentation section <b>220</b>, a map image storage section <b>222</b>, a composition storage section <b>224</b>, a composition determination section <b>226</b>, an image comparison section <b>228</b>, a position storage section <b>230</b>, a position identification section <b>232</b>, a position presentation section <b>234</b> and a portable unit detection section <b>236</b>. Each of the mark units <b>160</b> has light emitting sections (<b>262</b><i>a</i>-<i>c</i>, hereinafter generally referred to as <b>262</b>).

The portable unit <b>140</b> is held by a main subject captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. Then the portable unit <b>140</b> transmits a signal to remotely control the image capturing unit <b>100</b> by radio communication. For example, the portable unit <b>140</b> transmits to the image capturing unit <b>110</b> the signal to instruct on image-capturing.

The antenna unit <b>130</b> receives the signal from the portable unit <b>140</b> by a radio signal. The image capturing control section <b>212</b> controls the image capturing unit <b>110</b> based on the signal received by the antenna unit <b>130</b>. For example, the image capturing control section <b>212</b> causes the image capturing unit <b>110</b> to capture the image when the image capturing control section <b>212</b> receives the signal to instruct on the image-capturing from the portable unit <b>140</b>.

The image capturing unit <b>110</b> receives light from the subject by an image capturing device such as a CCD to capture the image of the subject. Then, the captured image acquiring section <b>214</b> acquires the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> and stores the same. Here, the image capturing unit <b>110</b> may be fixedly installed at a predetermined position. Additionally, the image capturing function of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> may be embodied in a terminal held by the user, such as the portable unit <b>140</b>.

Additionally, the image capturing unit <b>110</b> may continuously capture the images of the subject at a predetermined time interval. Then the image capturing unit <b>110</b> may store the predetermined number of images which are continuously captured. Then the image acquiring section <b>214</b> may acquire the image captured at the timing proximate to the instructed time for capturing by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> among the captured images stored in the image capturing unit <b>110</b>.

The server <b>120</b> may transmit the captured image acquired the image acquiring section <b>214</b> to the portable unit <b>140</b>. Then, the portable unit <b>140</b> may display the captured image received from the server <b>120</b> on a display device to present the same to the user.

The composition storage section <b>224</b> stores a plurality of compositions identifying a background image and the position of the subject in the background image. The composition determination section <b>226</b> determines the composition of the image to be captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. For example, the composition determination section <b>226</b> selects the composition selected by the user among the plurality of compositions stored in the composition storage section <b>224</b>.

Specifically, the server <b>120</b> transmits the composition stored in the composition storage section <b>224</b> to the portable unit <b>140</b>. The, the portable unit <b>140</b> presents the composition received from the server <b>120</b> to the user to causes the user to select the same. Then, the portable unit <b>140</b> transmits the composition selected by the user to the server <b>120</b>. At this time, the composition determination section <b>226</b> receives the composition selected by the user from the portable unit <b>140</b> and selects the received composition among the compositions stored in the composition storage section <b>224</b>. Here, the composition determination section <b>226</b> may be fixedly installed near the position at which the image is captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. Then, the composition determination section <b>226</b> may present the composition captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> to the user and cause the user to select among the same.

The position identification section <b>232</b> identifies at least one of the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> and the position of the main subject based on the composition determined by the composition determination section <b>226</b>. Then, the position presentation section <b>234</b> presents at least one of the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> and the position of the main subject identified by the position identification section <b>232</b>.

The position storage section <b>230</b> stores the positions of the main subject in association with the plurality of compositions stored in the composition storage section <b>224</b>. Then, the position identification section <b>232</b> may select the position of the main subject stored in the position storage section in association with the composition determined by the composition determination section <b>226</b>.

The mark units <b>160</b> are provided on the positions of the main subject stored in the position storage section <b>230</b>. The light emitting sections <b>262</b> emit light to notify the user of the positions of the mark units <b>160</b>. Then, the position presentation section <b>234</b> may present information to identify the mark unit <b>160</b> provided on the main subject selected by the position identification section <b>232</b>. Additionally, the position presentation section <b>234</b> may light the light emitting section <b>262</b> included in the mark unit <b>160</b> provided on the position of the main subject selected by the position identification section <b>232</b>.

The portable unit detection section <b>236</b> can receive within a predetermined region including the mark units <b>160</b>. The portable unit detection section <b>236</b> receives a radio signal outputted from the portable unit <b>140</b> to detect that the portable unit <b>140</b> is located in a predetermined region. Then, the position presentation section <b>234</b> presents information to identify the mark unit <b>160</b> provided on the position of the main subject selected by the position identification section <b>232</b> when the portable unit detection section <b>236</b> detects that the portable unit <b>140</b> is located in the predetermined region.

The map image storage section <b>222</b> stores a three-dimensional map image. Then, the composition determination section <b>226</b> determines the composition including the background image of the main subject. The position identification section <b>232</b> compares the background image of the main subject including the composition determined by the composition determination section <b>226</b> with the three-dimensional map image stored in the map image storage section <b>222</b> to identify the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b>.

The image capturing unit information storage section <b>216</b> stores information indicative of the type of the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. The image capturing condition determination section <b>218</b> determines the image capturing condition of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> based on the composition determined by the composition determination section <b>226</b> and the information indicative of the type of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> which is stored in the image capturing unit information storage section <b>216</b>. The image capturing condition presentation section <b>220</b> presents the image capturing condition of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> determined by the image capturing condition determination section <b>218</b>.

According to the image capturing system of the present embodiment, the user can correctly know the position at which the image capturing unit <b>110</b> can capture the image having the composition selected of the user's own choice, or the position at which the user should be located. Additionally, a desirable image capturing condition depending on the type of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> to capture the image having the composition selected by the user can be presented to the user.

Here, when the user can not capture the image having the composition selected of the user's own choice at the position presented by the position presentation section <b>234</b>, the position presentation section <b>234</b> may present to the user a position at which the user can capture the image having a composition similar to the composition selected by the user. In this case, the position acquiring section <b>242</b> acquires one of the position to which the image capturing unit is fixed and the position to which the main subject is fixed near the position presented by the position presentation section <b>234</b>. Then, a composition redetermination section <b>238</b> determines again a composition of the image to be captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> based on the composition determined by the composition determination section <b>226</b>, the three-dimensional map image stored in the map image storage section <b>222</b> and the position acquired by the position acquiring section <b>242</b>. Then, the position identification section <b>232</b> identifies the other of the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> and the position of the main subject based on the composition determined by the composition redetermination section <b>238</b>.

Specifically, the position acquiring section <b>234</b> acquires the position to which the image capturing unit <b>110</b> is fixed near the position presented by the position presentation section <b>234</b>. In this case, the composition redetermination section <b>238</b> determines a composition which allows the image capturing unit <b>110</b> to capture the main subject and the other subjects in the positional relationship approximately same as the positional relationship between the main subject and the other subjects in the composition determined by the composition determination section <b>226</b> based on the composition determined by the composition determination section <b>226</b>, the three-dimensional map image stored in the map image storage section <b>222</b> and the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> acquired by the position acquiring section <b>242</b>. Then, the position identification section <b>232</b> identifies the position of the main subject based on the composition determined by the composition redetermination section <b>238</b>.

The position acquiring section <b>242</b> acquires the position to which the main subject is fixed near the position presented by the position presentation section <b>234</b>. In this case, the composition redetermination section <b>238</b> determines a composition which allows the image capturing unit <b>110</b> to capture the main subject and the other subjects in the positional relationship approximately same as the positional relationship between the main subject and the other subjects in the composition determined by the composition determination section <b>226</b> based on the composition determined by the composition determination section <b>226</b>, the three-dimensional map image stored in the map image storage section <b>222</b> and the position of the main subject acquired by the position acquiring section <b>242</b>. Then, the position identification section <b>232</b> identifies the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> based on the composition determined by the composition redetermination section <b>238</b>.

Therefore, the image capturing system according to the present embodiment can present to the subject a position near the position firstly presented by the position presentation section <b>234</b>, where a subject person should stand in order to capture the image having the composition similar to the composition selected by the subject person. For example, the image capturing system according to the present embodiment can present to the subject person the desirable position on which the subject person should stand even if the subject can not captured at the position firstly presented because there is any obstacle at the position firstly presented or the tourist different from the subject person is shown on the image on capturing from the firstly presented position.

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9</figref> shows an example of the composition stored in a composition storage section <b>224</b> according to the present embodiment. The composition storage section <b>224</b> stores a composition image <b>302</b> as a composition for capturing the main subject against a background of Ferris wheel, for example. The composition storage section <b>224</b> may store a plurality of compositions in which the position and size of the main subject in the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> are different from each other. For example, the composition storage section <b>224</b> stores a composition image <b>304</b> as a composition for capturing two users against the background of the Ferris wheel same as the composition image <b>302</b>. Additionally, the composition storage section <b>224</b> stores a composition image <b>306</b> for capturing the main subject against a background of such as a bronze statue.

The position storage section <b>230</b> stores the positions of the main subject in association with each composition stored in the composition storage section <b>224</b>. Then, the position identification section <b>232</b> identifies the position of the main subject based on the position or size of the main subject in the composition determined by the composition determination section <b>226</b>. For example, the position identification section <b>232</b> may select the position of the main subject stored in the position storage section <b>230</b> in association with the composition determined by the composition determination section <b>226</b>. Then, the position presentation section <b>234</b> presents the position of the main subject selected by the position identification section <b>232</b>.

Here, the composition storage section <b>224</b> may store a plurality of compositions depending on the number of the main subjects. Then, the position storage section <b>230</b> stores the positions of the main subject in association with the plurality of compositions depending on the number of the main subjects stored in the composition storage section <b>224</b>. Then, the position identification section <b>232</b> may identify the positions of the plurality of main subjects to capture the image having the composition determined by the composition determination section <b>226</b>.

The image capturing presentation section <b>220</b> may transmit the image capturing condition to capture the image having the composition selected by the user to the portable unit <b>140</b>. Specifically, the image capturing condition determination section <b>218</b> stores the image capturing condition, such as a zoom value, to capture the image having the composition stored in the composition storage section <b>224</b>. Then, the image capturing unit information storage section <b>216</b> stores control values for controlling the image capturing condition for each image capturing unit <b>110</b> for each type of the image capturing unit <b>110</b>, such as the model of the camera on the market. For example, the image capturing unit information storage section <b>216</b> stores the zoom control value for the image capturing section <b>110</b> in association with the zoom value for each type of the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. Then, the image capturing condition determination section <b>218</b> determines the image capturing condition for each image capturing unit <b>110</b> to capture the image having the composition selected by the composition determination section <b>226</b> and presents the same from the image capturing condition presentation section <b>220</b> to the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the user.

The user adjusts the image capturing condition of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> based on the image capturing condition presented by the portable unit <b>140</b> and captures the image. When the portable unit <b>140</b> has the image capturing unit <b>110</b>, the portable unit <b>140</b> may adjust the image capturing condition of the own capturing unit <b>110</b> based on the image capturing condition received from the image capturing condition presentation section <b>220</b>. Therefore, the user can easily capture the image having the composition of the user's own choice under the appropriate condition according to the image capturing unit <b>110</b> held by the user.

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref> shows an example of the position at which a main subject should be located according to the present embodiment. The mark unit <b>160</b><i>a </i>is provided on the position at which the user should be located in order to capture an image shown as the composition image <b>302</b> by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. The mark units (<b>160</b><i>b </i>and <b>160</b><i>c</i>) are provided on the position at which the user should be located in order to capture an image shown as the composition image <b>304</b>.

Each of the mark units <b>160</b> has the position marks (<b>412</b><i>a</i>-<i>c</i>, hereinafter generally referred to as <b>412</b>) indicative of the positions at which the main subject should be located. The light emitting sections <b>262</b> are provided near the position marks <b>412</b>. Additionally, the mark identification indicators (<b>432</b><i>a</i>-<i>c</i>, hereinafter generally referred to as <b>432</b>) for identifying each of the mark units (<b>160</b><i>a</i>-<i>c</i>) are drawn near each of the mark units <b>160</b>.

Here, the mark units <b>160</b> may be provided on the positions depending to the number of main subjects, respectively. Specifically, the position mark <b>412</b><i>a </i>is drawn on the position at which one main subject should be located in order to capture the image having the best composition when the main subject is captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. Additionally, the position mark <b>412</b><i>b </i>and the position mark <b>412</b><i>c </i>are drawn on the position at which two main subjects should be located in order to capture the image having the best composition of the two main subjects.

Here, the position presentation section <b>234</b> may transmit the image indicative of the mark identification indicator <b>432</b> for identifying the mark unit <b>160</b> provided on the position of the main subject selected by the position identification section <b>232</b> to the portable unit <b>140</b>. Then, the portable unit <b>140</b> may display the received mark identification indicator <b>432</b> on the portable unit <b>140</b> to notify the user of the position at which the main subject should be located. Additionally, the position presentation section <b>234</b> causes the light emitting section <b>262</b> provided at the position of the main subject identified by the position identification section <b>232</b> to light to notify the user of the position at which the main subject should be located.

The mark units <b>160</b> may be luminescence material applied on the position at which the main subject should be located. Then, the position presentation section <b>234</b> may present the position at which the main subject is located by lighting the luminescence material with an ultraviolet flash.

Additionally, the mark units <b>160</b> may indicate the position to which the main subject should be located and the direction of the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. For example, the position marks <b>412</b> may some marks in the shape of foot of humans which are drawn on the ground at which the user should be located. In this case, the face of the person who stands on the marks faces toward the direction of the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. Additionally, the mark units <b>160</b> may include marks drawn on which the user should be located and directional arrows indicative of the direction to which the image capturing unit <b>110</b> is installed in addition to the marks in shape of foot of humans.

Here, the position marks <b>412</b> may be provided on the position at which the position marks <b>412</b> are not shown on the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> when the main subject is located thereon. For example, the main subject exists on the position at which the position marks <b>412</b> are provided, so that the position marks <b>412</b> are hidden by the main subject, thereby the position marks <b>412</b> are not shown on the captured image. Specifically, any user stands on the position at which the position marks <b>412</b> are provided, so that the position marks <b>412</b> are hidden by the feet of the user, thereby the position marks <b>412</b> are not shown on the captured image. For example, the position marks <b>412</b> may be marks having the size smaller than that of a foot of humans.

Additionally, image capturing buttons may be provided near for each of the mark units <b>160</b>, respectively. For example, the image capturing buttons for instructing the image capturing unit <b>110</b> on image-instructing may be provided under user's feet positioned on each of the position marks <b>412</b>. Then, the image capturing unit <b>110</b> may identify the mark unit <b>160</b> corresponding to the image capturing button operated by the user's foot to capture the image in the composition depending on the number of main subjects indicated by the mark unit <b>160</b>. Additionally, the image capturing unit <b>110</b> may capture an image provided that the number of the users corresponding to the number of the main subjects indicated by each of the mark units <b>160</b> are located on the mark units <b>160</b>. For example, the image capturing buttons may be provided at each of the positions on which the main subjects should be located, indicated by the position marks <b>412</b> respectively. Then, the image capturing unit <b>110</b> may capture an image provided that all of the image capturing buttons provided at the positions at which the main subjects indicated by the mark units <b>160</b> should be located are operated by the number of users corresponding to the number of the main subjects indicated by the mark units <b>160</b>.

The antenna units <b>130</b> can receive within a predetermined region including the mark units <b>160</b>. The antenna units <b>130</b> receive a radio signal outputted from the portable unit <b>140</b> and transmits the same to the portable unit detection section <b>236</b>. When the antenna units <b>130</b> receives the radio signal from the portable unit <b>140</b>, the portable unit detection section <b>236</b> detects that the portable unit <b>140</b> is located in the predetermined region including the mark units <b>160</b>. At this time, the position identification section <b>232</b> identifies the position at which the main subject should be located to capture the image having the composition to be captured at the positions of the mark units <b>160</b>. Then, the position presentation section <b>234</b> causes the light emitting section <b>262</b> included in the mark unit <b>160</b> provided on the position identified by the position identification section <b>232</b> to light. The position presentation section <b>234</b> may display the mark identification indicators <b>432</b> for identifying the mark units <b>160</b> on the portable unit <b>140</b> to notify the user of the location at which the user should be located. Therefore, the user can easily recognize to be located near the region for capturing by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. Additionally, the user can correctly know the location at which the user should be positioned in order to capture the user's image having a desirable composition.

The region in which the antenna unit <b>130</b> can receive the radio signal from the portable unit <b>140</b> may include an image capturing region in which images are captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>, which includes the mark units <b>160</b>. Additionally, the region in which the antenna unit <b>130</b> can receive the radio signal from the portable unit <b>140</b> may be a region in which the antenna units <b>130</b> can receive the radio signal from the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the user located near the mark units <b>160</b>. Therefore, the server <b>120</b> can appropriately present the composition captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> and the position at which the user captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> should be located.

The antenna units <b>130</b> may be installed near the positions of the mark units <b>160</b>. Additionally, the antenna units <b>130</b> may be embedded in the ground so as not to be shown on the image captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. The antenna units <b>130</b> may be provided outside of the region captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b>. Further, the antenna units <b>130</b> may be provided on the location higher than the ground, such as the wall of a building.

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 11</figref> shows an example of information indicative of the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> and the main subject presented by the position presentation section <b>234</b> according to the present embodiment. The portable unit <b>140</b> held by the user being a photographer receives the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> to capture a composition image <b>522</b> from the position presentation section <b>234</b> at a position <b>512</b> in the amusement park. The portable unit <b>140</b> held by the user being a subject person receives the position of the main subject to capture the composition image <b>522</b> from the position presentation section <b>234</b> at a position <b>514</b> in the amusement park Then, the portable unit <b>140</b> displays a map image <b>532</b> and a map image <b>534</b> thereon based on the information received from the position presentation section <b>234</b> to notify the user of the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> and the position of the main subject.

For example, the portable unit <b>140</b> receives the latitude and longitude of the position at which the image capturing unit <b>110</b> should be located from the position presentation section <b>234</b> to display thereon the map image <b>532</b> including the position. Then, the portable unit <b>140</b> displays an image capturing position indicator <b>544</b> indicative of the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> on the map image <b>532</b>. The portable unit <b>140</b> may identify the current position of the portable unit <b>140</b> using GPS information received from Global Positioning System satellite to further display a current position indicator <b>542</b> indicative of the current position of the portable unit <b>140</b> on the map image <b>532</b>. Additionally, the portable unit <b>140</b> may display a directional arrow indicative of the direction of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> from the current position of the portable unit <b>140</b>.

In the same way, the portable unit <b>140</b> receives the latitude and longitude of the position at which the main subject is located from the position presentation section <b>234</b> to display thereon the map image <b>534</b> including the position. Then, the portable unit <b>140</b> displays an image capturing position <b>548</b> indicative of the position of the main subject on the map image <b>534</b>. The portable unit <b>140</b> may identify the current position of the portable unit <b>140</b> using GPS information received from Global Positioning System satellite to display a current position indicator <b>546</b> indicative of the current position of the portable unit <b>140</b> on the map image <b>534</b>. Additionally, the portable unit <b>140</b> may display a directional arrow indicative of the direction of the position at which the main subject should be located from the current position of THE portable unit <b>140</b>.

Additionally, the portable unit <b>140</b> receives the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> and the position at which the main subject should be located from the position presentation section <b>234</b> to display the directional arrow indicative of the direction to which the main subject should be located from the image capturing unit <b>110</b> on the map image <b>532</b>. In the same way, the portable unit <b>140</b> receives the position at which the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> and the position at which the main subject should be located from the position presentation section <b>234</b> to display the directional arrow indicative of the direction from the position at which the main subject should be located to the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> on the map image <b>534</b>.

The position storage section <b>230</b> may store the image capturing direction of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> at the image capturing position thereof, and the direction to which the main subject should face at the image-captured position thereof. Then, the position identification section <b>232</b> identifies the direction of the image capturing direction of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> and the direction to which the main subject should face based on the composition determined by the composition determination section <b>226</b>. Then, the position presentation section <b>234</b> may transmit each of the identified directions to the portable unit <b>140</b>. The portable unit <b>140</b> may display the directional arrow indicative of the image capturing direction of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> and the directional arrow indicative of the direction to which the main subject should face on the map image <b>532</b> and the map image <b>534</b>, respectively.

Here, the image comparison section <b>228</b> compares the composition determined by the composition determination section <b>226</b> with the comparison image generated based on the three-dimensional map image stored in the map image storage section <b>222</b>, so that the position identification section <b>232</b> may identify the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b>.

For example, the image comparison section <b>228</b> selects the position within the region included in the three-dimensional map image stored in the map image storage section <b>222</b> as the image capturing position. Then, the image comparison section <b>228</b> may select the capturing direction captured from the selected image capturing position per one degree. Further, the image comparison section <b>228</b> may select the angle of view captured in the selected image capturing direction per one degree. Then, the image comparison section <b>228</b> calculates the pixel value for each image acquired when images are captured from the plurality of image capturing positions under the condition of a plurality of image capturing directions and a plurality of angles of view at a plurality of image capturing positions by using the three-dimensional map image information to generate a plurality of comparison images. Then, the image comparison section <b>228</b> calculates the difference between the plurality of comparison images and the composition image including the background determined by the composition determination section <b>226</b>. Then, the position identification section <b>232</b> identifies, among the plurality of comparison images, the image capturing position and direction at which the comparison image having the smallest difference from the composition image is generated. Then, the position presentation section <b>234</b> transmits the image capturing position and direction which are identified by the position identification section <b>232</b> to the portable unit <b>140</b>.

Since the image comparison section <b>228</b> compares the composition image with the comparison image to identify the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b>, it is not necessary that the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> is registered in the image capturing system again when a new composition provided by the image capturing system is added, but only an image having the new composition is added to the composition storage section <b>224</b>. Therefore, any new composition can more easily be added.

Additionally, the image comparison section <b>228</b> may determine the image region having the frequency component less than a predetermined frequency with the intensity more than a predetermined intensity in the composition image including the background determined by the composition determination section <b>226</b> as an image region on which sky is shown up, so that the image comparison section <b>228</b> may compare the composition image <b>522</b> with the comparison image except for the region on which sky is shown up. Thereby the image comparison section <b>228</b> can appropriately compare the composition image <b>522</b> with the comparison image even if sky is shown up on the composition image <b>522</b>.

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 12</figref> shows an example of the procedure of the image-capturing using the image capturing unit <b>110</b> according to the present embodiment. The user selects a composition to be captured (S<b>612</b>). The user who selects the composition to be captured may be a subject person who is captured by the image capturing unit <b>110</b> or a photographer who captures the image of the subject person using the image capturing unit <b>110</b>.

Next, the photographer receives the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> using the portable unit <b>140</b> (S<b>632</b>), and moves to the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> displayed on the portable unit <b>140</b> (S<b>634</b>). Meanwhile, the subject person receives the own position by the portable unit <b>140</b> (S<b>622</b>), and moves to the position displayed on the portable unit <b>140</b> where the subject person should be located (S<b>624</b>) Next, the photographer captures an image using the image capturing unit <b>110</b> under the image capturing condition presented by the image capturing condition presentation section <b>220</b> (S<b>638</b>). Then, the user acquires the captured image using the portable unit <b>140</b>.

Here, the position presentation section <b>234</b> may previously store the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the photographer and the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the subject person in association with each other. Then, the position presentation section <b>234</b> may transmit the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> and the position of the subject person in order to capture the image having the composition selected by the portable unit <b>140</b> held by any of the photographer or subject person to the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the photographer and the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the subject person in association with each other.

The image capturing system according to the present embodiment can notify the user of the position of the image capturing unit <b>110</b> and the position at which the user should be located to capture the image having the appropriate composition. Therefore, the user can easily capture the image having the desirable composition.

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 13</figref> shows an example of the operation flow of a sever <b>120</b> according to the present embodiment, to present the user's position at which the image having the composition similar to the selected composition can be captured. The portable unit <b>140</b> held by the photographer or subject person (main subject) transmits the composition selected by the photographer or subject person to the server <b>120</b>. The composition determination section <b>226</b> receives the composition transmitted from the portable unit <b>140</b> (S<b>702</b>). Then, the position presentation section <b>234</b> presents the position of the photographer and the position of the subject person where the composition received in the S<b>702</b> can be captured. At this time, the position presentation section <b>234</b> may present a predetermined range including the position of the photographer and the position of the subject person. For example, the position presentation section <b>234</b> may transmit the map information indicative of the predetermined range including the positions to the portable unit <b>140</b>.

Then, the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the photographer and the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the subject person present the position of the photographer and the position of the subject person which are received from the position presentation section <b>234</b>. Then, the photographer and the subject person move to near the presented positions, respectively. Then the photographer fixes the position near the presented position. At this time, the position acquiring section <b>242</b> of the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the photographer acquires the fixed position of the photographer and transmits the same to the server <b>120</b>.

Then, the composition redetermination section <b>238</b> acquires the position of the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the photographer from the position acquiring section <b>242</b> (S<b>706</b>). Then, the composition redetermination section <b>238</b> determines a composition in which the subject person can be captured in the positional relationship proximate to the positional relationship between the subject person indicated in the composition acquired in the S<b>702</b> and the other subject persons (S<b>708</b>). Then, the position presentation section <b>234</b> calculates the position of the subject person where the image having the composition determined in the S<b>708</b> can be captured and transmits the same to the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the subject person (S<b>710</b>). Then, the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the subject person receives the position transmitted from the position presentation section <b>234</b> in the S<b>710</b> and displays the same on the monitor screen thereon.

The server <b>120</b> previously distinguishes and registers the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the subject person and the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the photographer. Then, the server <b>120</b> may determine the position acquired from the portable unit <b>140</b> registered as the photographer's portable unit <b>140</b> as the position of the photographer. Here, the composition redetermination section <b>238</b> may determine the position acquired in the S<b>706</b> as the position of the photographer when the position acquired in the S<b>706</b> is nearer the position of the photographer presented in the S<b>704</b> than the position of the subject person presented by the position presentation section <b>234</b> in the S<b>704</b>. Additionally, the composition redetermination section <b>238</b> may determine which the position acquired in the S<b>706</b> is the photographer's or the subject person's based on the signal intensity of the antenna units <b>130</b> which received the signal indicative of the position. For example, when the intensity of the signal received by the antenna unit <b>130</b> near the presented image-capturing position is larger than the intensity of the same signal received by the antenna unit <b>130</b> near the presented image-captured position, the composition redetermination section <b>238</b> may determine that the received signal is the signal indicative of the position from the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the photographer.

Here, the case that the server <b>120</b> determines the position of the subject person while the position of the photographer is fixed has been described in the present embodiment. Meanwhile, in the case that the server <b>120</b> determines the position of the photographer when the position of the subject person is fixed, the composition redetermination section <b>238</b> acquires the position of the portable unit <b>140</b> from the position acquiring section <b>242</b> in the S<b>706</b>. In S<b>708</b>, the composition redetermination section <b>238</b> redetermines the composition in which the photographer can capture the image in the positional relationship proximate to the relationship between the subject person and the photographer indicated by the composition acquired in the S<b>702</b> when the subject is located at the position thereof acquired in the S<b>706</b>. Then, in S<b>710</b>, the position presentation section <b>234</b> calculates the position at which the image having the composition which has been determined in the S<b>708</b> and transmits the same to the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the photographer.

As described above, the position presentation section <b>234</b> determines any one of the positions of the photographer or the subject person near the position firstly presented by the position presentation section <b>234</b> and presents again the position at which the image having the composition similar to the previously selected composition. Therefore, the image capturing system according to the present embodiment can present the position at which the image having the composition similar to the previously selected composition can be captured to the photographer or subject person when there is any obstacle at the position presented by the position presentation section <b>234</b> and the photographer can not capture at the firstly presented position but capture at the different position from the firstly presented position.

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 14</figref> shows an example of the presentation of the position of the photographer depending on the position of the subject person according to the present embodiment. In <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 14</figref>, the position presentation section <b>234</b> presents a subject persons' position <b>912</b> to capture the image having a composition <b>306</b> selected by the subject person. Here, a subject person <b>902</b> determines a position <b>914</b> which is near the subject persons' position <b>912</b> and is different from the subject persons' position <b>912</b> as the position of the subject person. In this case, the image in which a monument <b>900</b> and the subject person are overlapped is captured when the subject person is photographed from a position <b>922</b> of the photographer presented by the position presentation section <b>234</b>. At this time, the subject person <b>902</b> executes an operation on the portable unit <b>140</b> that the position of the portable unit <b>140</b> is transmitted to the server <b>120</b> at the determined position <b>914</b>, and then, the position acquiring section <b>242</b> of the portable unit <b>140</b> acquires GPS information from Global Positioning System satellite and transmits the latitude and longitude information of the position <b>914</b> indicated by the acquired GPS information to the server <b>120</b>.

Then, the composition redetermination section <b>238</b> of the server <b>120</b> set each of the plurality of positions included in a predetermined range including the image capturing position <b>922</b> as the image capturing positions and determines the positional relationship between the object included in the three-dimensional map image stored in the map image storage section <b>222</b> and the subject persons' position <b>914</b> in each of the composition images acquired by capturing images with various directions and angle of views from each of the image capturing positions. Specifically, the composition redetermination section <b>238</b> calculates the distance between the subject person's position <b>914</b> and the object included in the three-dimensional map image as an index indicative of the positional relationship between the subject person and the object. Additionally, the composition redetermination section <b>238</b> may further calculate the coordinate of the intermediate position between the subject person and the object included in the three-dimensional map image as the index indicative of the positional relationship between the subject person and the object. Then, the composition redetermination section <b>238</b> compares the coincidence between the positional relation ship of which index is the calculated distance or the coordinate of the intermediate position and the positional relationship in the composition <b>306</b> among the composition images to select the composition image having the maximum coincidence of the positional relationship.

The position identification section <b>232</b> selects the image capturing position, the image capturing direction and the angle of view for the composition image selected by the composition redetermination section <b>238</b>. Then, the position presentation section <b>234</b> transmits the image capturing position, the image capturing direction and the angle of view selected by the position identification section <b>232</b> to the portable unit <b>140</b>. The portable unit <b>140</b> held by the photographer displays the image capturing position received from the position presentation section <b>234</b> on the monitor screen thereon and announce the photographer by voice to notify the photographer of the image capturing position <b>924</b>. For example, on receiving the image capturing position <b>924</b>, the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the photographer may acquire the own current position from GPS information and notify the photographer of the direction and the distance from the acquired position of the portable unit <b>140</b> to the image capturing position <b>924</b>. Specifically, the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the photographer may display the directional arrow indicative of the direction from the current position to the image capturing position <b>924</b> and the distance to the image capturing position <b>924</b>, and reproduce a guiding voice such as “Move to the right direction by 10 m”. Additionally, the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the photographer may display the image capturing condition, such as an image capturing direction and an angle of view which are received from the position presentation section <b>234</b> on the monitor screen to present the same to the photographer.

Here, the case that the distance between the subject person and the object, and the coordinate of the middle point between the subject person and the object are as the index indicative of the positional relationship between the subject person and the object has been described. Additionally, the position of the subject person or the position of the object in the composition image may be as the other index indicative of the positional relationship. For example, the composition redetermination section <b>238</b> may preferentially determine the composition in which the coincidence between the position of the subject person or the position of the object in any composition image, and the position of the subject person or the position of the object in the composition image <b>306</b> is higher. According to the image capturing system of the present embodiment as described above, the photographer can easily know the position at which the image can be captured with the desirable positional relationship between the subject person and the monument when the subject person is captured at the position relatively far from the previously presented position.

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 15</figref> shows an example of the presentation of the position of the subject person depending on the position of the photographer according to the present embodiment. In <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 14</figref>, a photographer's position <b>1022</b> where the image having the composition <b>306</b> selected by the photographer is captured is presented by the position presentation section <b>234</b>. However, in this case, the photographer sets the image capturing position to a position <b>1024</b> not same as the photographers' position <b>1022</b> but near the photographers' position <b>1022</b>. Here, when the photographer captures an image of the subject person located at the position <b>1012</b> presented by the position presentation section <b>234</b> from the position <b>1024</b>, an image <b>1032</b> in which the subject person is far from the monument is captured. Here, the photographer transmits the position of the portable unit <b>140</b> to the server <b>120</b> at the set position <b>1024</b> through the portable unit <b>140</b>, and then, the position acquiring section <b>242</b> of the portable unit <b>140</b> acquires GPS information from Global Positioning System satellite and transmits the acquired latitude and longitude information of the position <b>1024</b> indicated by the GPS information to the server <b>120</b>.

Then, the composition redetermination section <b>238</b> of the server <b>120</b> determines the positional relationship between the object included in the three-dimensional map image stored in the map image storage section <b>222</b> and the subject person in the composition image obtained when the subject person located at various subject person's positions around the subject person's position <b>1012</b> is captured in various directions and angle of views from the image capturing position <b>1024</b>. Specifically, the composition redetermination section <b>238</b> calculates the distance between the subject person's position and the object included in the three-dimensional map image as an index indicative of the positional relationship between the subject person and the object. Additionally, the composition redetermination section <b>238</b> may further calculate the coordinate of the intermediate position between the subject person's position and the object included in the three-dimensional map image as an index indicative of the above-described positional relationship. Then the composition redetermination section <b>238</b> compares the coincidence of the positional relationship based on the index such as the calculated distance and the calculated coordinate of the intermediate position, and the coincidence of the positional relationship in the composition <b>306</b> among the composition images and selects the composition image having the maximum coincidence of the positional relationship.

Then, the position identification section <b>232</b> selects a subject person's position <b>1014</b>, the image capturing direction, and the angle of view for the composition image selected by the composition redetermination section <b>238</b>. Then, the position presentation section <b>234</b> transmits the subject person's position <b>1014</b> selected by the position identification section <b>232</b> to the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the photographer. The portable unit <b>140</b> held by the subject person displays the subject person's position <b>1014</b> received from the position presentation section <b>234</b> on the monitor screen thereon and notifies the subject person by voice so that the subject person recognizes the subject person's position <b>1014</b>. For example, on receiving the subject person's position <b>1014</b>, the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the subject person may acquire the current position of the portable unit <b>140</b> from GPS information and notify the subject person of the direction and the distance from the acquired position of the portable unit <b>140</b> to the subject person's position <b>1014</b>. Specifically, the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the subject person may display the directional arrow indicative of the direction from the current position to the subject person's position <b>1014</b> and the distance to the subject person's position <b>1014</b>, and reproduce a guiding voice such as “Move to the left direction by 3 m”. Here, the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the subject person may receive the image capturing condition identified by the position identification section <b>232</b>, such an image capturing direction and an angle of view from the position presentation section <b>234</b> and display the received image capturing condition on the monitor screen thereon to present the same to the photographer.

According to the image capturing system of the present embodiment as described above, the subject person can easily know the position at which the subject person and the monument are captured in the desirable positional relationship when the subject is captured at the position different from the position firstly presented.

<figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 16</figref> shows an example of the operation of the portable unit <b>140</b> when the position acquiring section <b>242</b> acquires the position of a subject person or photographer according to the present embodiment. The case that the position acquiring section <b>242</b> acquires the positions of the subject person and the photographer by receiving GPS information from Global Positioning System satellite has been described with reference to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9</figref> and <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref>. Now, the case that the position acquiring section <b>242</b> provided in the server <b>120</b> acquires the position of a subject person or photographer by image capturing information of the photographer will be described.

Capturing the image to acquire the position using the portable unit <b>140</b>, the photographer half pushes a shutter button while a marker <b>1002</b> on an image capturing monitor is overlapped with the subject person. At this time, the portable unit <b>140</b> focuses on the subject person with which the marker <b>1002</b> is overlapped and calculates the distance to the subject person based on the control value at the focusing. Additionally, the portable unit <b>140</b> transmits the image captured at the timing at which the shutter button <b>1104</b> is half pushed and the distance to the subject person to the server <b>120</b>, and compares the image captured by the portable unit <b>140</b> with the three-dimensional map image information stored in the image storage section <b>222</b> to identify the position and the image capturing direction of the photographer. Here, when the position and the image capturing direction of the portable unit <b>140</b> is identified by comparing the image captured by the portable unit <b>140</b> with the three-dimensional map image information, the operation of the position acquiring section <b>242</b> is same as the operation when the position of the photographer is calculated by comparing the composition image with the three-dimensional map image information with reference to <figref idrefs="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref>, therefore, the description is omitted. Additionally, the position acquiring section <b>242</b> identifies the subject person's position based on the identified position and the image capturing direction of the portable unit <b>140</b>, and the distance to the subject person received from the portable unit <b>140</b>.

Thus, the position acquiring section <b>242</b> can identify the position of the photographer and the subject person from the image capturing information by the portable unit <b>140</b> held by the photographer. Therefore, the server <b>120</b> can acquire the positional information of the photographer and the subject person at the same time. Thereby the server <b>120</b> can identify the position of the photographer and the subject person by operating the portable unit <b>140</b> by the photographer without operating the portable unit <b>140</b> by the subject person even if the subject person is captured at the position different from the position firstly presented.

Additionally, the position acquiring section <b>242</b> may identify the position of the subject person or photographer having the portable unit <b>140</b> based on the intensity of the signal from the portable unit <b>140</b> received by the three or more antenna sections <b>130</b> which are not in alignment. Here, the position acquiring section <b>242</b> may determine whether the identified position is the photographer's position or the subject person's position based on the distance between the identified position and the position presented by the position presentation section <b>234</b>. Further, the position acquiring section <b>242</b> may determine whether the identified position is the photographer's position or the subject person's position based on the operation mode set to the portable unit <b>140</b> by the subject person or the photographer. For example, the portable unit <b>140</b> may transmit the signal indicative of the operation mode to the server <b>120</b>. Then, the position acquiring section <b>242</b> may determine the identified position of the portable unit <b>140</b> which transmitted the signal as the position of the photographer when the operation mode indicated by the signal received from the portable unit <b>140</b> is an image capturing mode.

While the present invention have been described with the embodiment, the technical scope of the invention not limited to the above described embodiment. It is apparent to persons skilled in the art that various alternations and improvements can be added to the above-described embodiment. It is apparent from the scope of the claims that the embodiment added such alternation or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the invention.